To mark Learning Disabilities Week (16 – 22 June), for this weeks Beyond The badge we caught up with the Speech and Language Team, which does vital work to support adults with learning disabilities across the Black Country.
We sat down with Charlotte Whitehead, Principal Speech and Language Therapist for the Adult Learning Disability Division, to learn more about the team, their work, and how they change lives.
What does today mean for your team?
We have therapists working with inpatients, on pathways with the Intensive Support Team and forensic services and in community-based teams across the four boroughs, so each day depends on where the team is based and the role. For example, they may see patients in wards, clinics, day centres or carry out home visits. Most teams carry out a combination of communication work and support with dysphagia, which involves assessing and advising on eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties. We will visit patients where they spend their time doing their normal activities, even sometimes in community cafes and pubs when appropriate! We also work with multi-disciplinary teams, liaising with other professionals and writing reports.
What does the team do?
For our communication work, we meet with the person and their carers to gather information on how they communicate, complete formal and informal assessments, and recommend what could help them. This could include Makaton signing, a picture-based communication system, a digital aid with a voice, a communication passport, or visual schedules to support understanding and choice-making. Every person we see for communication gets their own 'communication guidelines', a short profile of how they communicate and how best to support them.
For dysphagia, we assess the person's swallowing by making observations at mealtimes to see what they might struggle with and advise what support is needed. We recommend how someone can eat safely, for example, the texture of the food and drink they can safely manage, specialist equipment they might need, techniques that feeding partners can use, and appropriate positioning. We often work alongside OTs, physios and dieticians to provide coordinated support. We also provide training to carers on safe eating and drinking.
What is the best aspect of what the team does?
It's exciting when you work with someone who didn't have a voice before, and now, through our support, they can communicate what they need. That's why most of us get into this area of work - to give people a voice.
What does the team find challenging, and how do they manage it?
The carers we work with already have a lot of responsibilities and tasks to fit into their day, so we must get them on board in the long-term, which requires us to be realistic, approachable, and flexible. We are also empathetic and patient and use counselling skills, but it's rewarding when it all comes together.
What is the team proud of, or what do you think have been your biggest achievements?
Communication is a fundamental human right and is the door to accessing health care, education, and occupations. I am so proud of the team's vital contribution to multi-disciplinary work. Our teams do excellent work ensuring communication is considered in someone's formulation. The teams are constantly praised for person-centred support around dysphagia needs through the 'learning from lives and deaths' Leder process.
We have worked on easy-to-read documents for the Trust, which are available on the Trust website and are important for making information accessible. This includes the 'Tell us how we did' form, which is hosted as an interactive, easy-to-read webpage accessible with a QR code.
What would you most people to understand about your team?
Speech and language input for adults with learning disabilities is different to the type of therapy given to young children or adults who have had a stroke. A more accurate title for the role in Learning Disabilities (LD) would be 'Communication and Dysphagia Therapist' as we look widely and holistically at peoples' communication and swallowing needs.
We will assess the person but also look at their environment, carers, and partnership support. We tailor our support around them to empower them in their own needs, lives, and abilities. We cannot always expect a person with a learning disability to learn new skills and change. Adjustments must be made to services and their lives to enable their inclusion and participation.
If you were to sum up your team in one or two words, what would you say?
Superwomen (we are an all-female staff group now!)
How does the team relax?
There's a big mix, from one team member who is a calligraphy teacher to another who needs to swim every day, and another colleague who has just returned from the US where her daughter was part of a cheerleading squad that came third in an international competition. There is often coffee, and cake involved in any face-to-face get-together. We have some Netflix completers, TV addicts, and people heavily involved in sports. A real mixed bag!
Tell us something about the team or a team member that people may not know.
Some of the team also work as Registered Intermediaries outside of the NHS, where we support vulnerable people participating in police and court proceedings. This is a similar patient group but in a different setting and role, and it can be very rewarding to support access to justice using transferrable communication skills.
Does the team have any wellbeing tips that you would like to share?
We like meeting together as one big team to share experiences and develop. It's a great boost for morale and teamwork, which is helpful for our wellbeing at work. Some staff are the lone Speech and Language Therapists in their immediate team, so connecting back to Speech and Language Therapy helps us remember our professional identity and unique skills.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
The theme for this year's Learning Disabilities Week is 'Do you see me?' It is also important to 'hear' and involve people with learning disabilities. Communication is everyone's business, especially when supporting people with learning disabilities.